Tainted by Ruby
by MySpl33n
Summary: A team seemingly hell bent on tearing itself in half. The leader and her partner work to keep the team together while the other two do their own thing. Teams RWBY and JNPR took all the plot armor which leaves none for Team LLAC (Lilac). Rated M for language, violence, and injury, possible suggestive themes. RWBY and canon RWBY characters belongs to RoosterTeeth.
1. Prologue

Words of rage turned to screams of pain as Aoi flew and impacted the wall. The angry woman who had flung him clutching her right wrist, much of the skin an angry red or simply torn away.

"I really will kill you this time!"

Her words failed to penetrate the haze that had taken hold of Aoi's mind after the rough landing but her tone made her intentions clear.

"Like I care, as long as you leave Alek alone!"

Brave words from the teen who swayed as he got to his feet, the pain from his head and back as well as the sloped ground of the driveway making anything other than falling and passing out (not necessarily in that order) somewhat difficult. He raised his arms, knowing there wouldn't be anything he could actually do against the vicious assault that was coming. As she pulled back her left fist, her face changed from murderous intent to shock. She clutched her side as the thin black metal rod that had hit her pulled away. An arm snaked over her shoulder and across her chest, pulling her back, moving her aside, then dropping her to the floor. This revealed a silver haired man, dressed in dark green and wielding a long cane comprised of the black rod topped with a silver handle, an odd clockwork assembly between the handle and the rod, and a round, white gem capping the end.

Aoi started to move forward with fists clenched, seeking to take advantage of what the man had done, only to be pushed back painfully by the tip of the man's cane which had been placed against Aoi's chest.

"Don't. All the fight has gone out of her. What do you have to gain by attacking a helpless opponent?"

Aoi grabbed the cane and tried to push it away. All he got for his efforts was a grunt of pain as the man used the cane to push Aoi further back.

"She hurt Alek! Knocked him out! She was going to kill me! Whatever I do to her is no more than she deserves for the pain she's caused us!"

"Be that as it may, injuring or killing a helpless opponent is something you'll regret for the rest of your life. Anything you do now will only make her angry and cause her to seek revenge later."

"Because that matters after years of abuse! Her 'revenge' on a world she hates! Her anger taken out on a couple of kids who can't fight back! If I take her out now, I'll be doing the world a favor!"

A grey eyebrow raised at that statement.

"Oh? Who made you judge, jury, executioner, and above all, God? Deciding whether she should live or die, and what impact she will or won't have on the world."

Mouth open for a retort, Aoi stopped when he heard a gasp come from behind the man.

"Alek."

The name uttered with little more than a breath, Aoi's focus completely changed as he realized his little brother was awake. The man made no move to stop Aoi as he pushed the man's cane away and rushed to Alek's side. Dropping to his knees, he helped the younger boy sit up.

"You're awake! Are you ok?"

"Yeah, but my head hurts and I feel funny. What happened?"

"Mom hit you after you dropped your bag of groceries."

"Oh."

At this, the man spoke up again, concerned about the brothers.

"How long has this been going on?"

"Why do you care? No one else does."

Despite Aoi's hostile response, Alek answered.

"Ever since Dad died. I was 4 so Mom's been like this for 8 years."

Aoi spoke up, deciding to cooperate if Alek was. When it came to people, Alek had an uncanny knack for knowing if someone can be trusted.

"Dad was a Faunus, he had floppy dog ears. I remember Mom talking about how cute they were. Dad's death must have hit her hard."

The man nodded.

"I'm sorry, boys, but I'm afraid I can't leave you here with your mother. I will make sure she gets the help she needs and you two get the care you deserve. Young man, how old are you?"

"15. Why?"

"If I said I could have you trained to help others the way I helped you now, what would you say?"

Aoi looked at the man suspiciously, trying to look like he was considering it but really hold himself back from acting like an excited dog.

"What about Alek?"

"He's the right age to go to combat school, if he wants, or to a normal high school. If you both go to combat school, you will both go to Signal since I personally know several of the teachers there, but you will be on the fast track. You'd be starting late while Alek is the right age to start at the beginning. Of course if he wants to go to a regular school, that's up to him."

Alek reached over and tugged on Aoi's sleeve.

"Don't worry about me. Combat school sounds fun but I'm not really a fighter. I can see you want to go."

Alek smiled at his brother.

"You sure? I can always go to a normal high school with you, keep an eye on you and make sure no one messes with you."

"Nah, I'll be fine. Besides, I can just tell everyone my brother is going to be a Hunter and they won't mess with me."

Aoi whipped around, realizing who saved him.

"You're Professor Ozpin."

It wasn't a question. Ozpin simply nodded.

"Then I accept."

"Good. I hope you have the determination to see this through. You're starting at Signal Academy 2 years late."

\- 2 years later -

"Beacon. This better be worth it."

Aoi stepped off the airship into a courtyard full of new students.

A/N: Welcome to my first published fanfiction. I've written some short stuff before but never published it. This will be fun. If you can't tell by now, the story is going to focus on an OC team created by me, with some help from a couple friends. Feel free to drop a review or find me on reddit (r/RWBY, I love you guys), where my username is also myspl33n.


	2. Chapter 1

Aoi stepped off the airship, sidestepping the airsick boy stopped by the trash can and continued into the courtyard.

"Well that's just gross. Poor guy."

Wandering further, while having no idea where to go, Aoi heard a girl say something about a collapsable staff, which happens to be Aoi's weapon. Willing to try to strike up a conversation and hoping to make at least one friend he turned to her, but saw she was already focused on a nearby girl, who has a sword made to catch fire, probably done using Dust contained within it.

That's a pretty cool weapon. Though I wouldn't want to go up against it.

Noticing most of the other new students seem to be heading towards the building in front of them, Aoi turned that way, just in time to hear a small explosion, followed by a stuck up voice reaming into someone, likely the cause of the explosion.

* * *

Following Ozpin's introduction, Aoi and the rest were herded into the ballroom, where they were able to retrieve their luggage and get ready for bed. Aoi grabbed his sleeping bag and went to claim a spot as far from any of the girls as he could. In his search for such a spot, he saw some guys trying to impress the girls and some girls flirting with the guys. He made sure to avoid both groups the best he could. Realizing that the boys and girls were pretty evenly mixed, Aoi set up his sleeping bag near a corner and laid down, passed out within moments.

* * *

Shortly after sunrise, a loud greeting to another person from across the room woke up Aoi, causing him to get his morning grumble in early.

"Aw, what the hell? I was enjoying that dream."

Aoi sat up and slid out of his sleeping bag, quickly getting it rolled up and stored with his luggage. Heading to the bathroom, his face fell when he realized there was only one. For both genders.

Just one bathroom? They expect us to share it with girls? That's just awkward.

Aoi hurried through his morning routine as fast as he could, not wanting to spend much time in the bathroom due to the mixed company. Glad to be done with that and out of the bathroom, Aoi followed the crowd to the cafeteria where breakfast was being served.

* * *

Headed to the locker room, he discovered someone trying to get into his weapon locker.

"Hey! Do you mind? I'm pretty sure that is my locker."

The girl looked at her scroll and looked back at the locker number.

"Oh! Sorry about that. Seems mine is the next one over."

She quickly got into her locker and withdrew her weapon, the fire sword from the day before. Shortly after, Aoi retrieved his.

"That's a fire sword, right?"

"Yup! Best kind of Dust is Fire Dust. Lightning is a close second so I keep some of that with me too, for emergencies. What's your weapon? Just looks like a metal tube right now."

Aoi gave his weapon handle a twist, triggering the extension of the blades.

"Collapsable bladed staff, turns into swords. Fairly simple in this form."

Aoi purposefully said nothing about his weapon's ranged form, wanting to keep a hidden advantage in case they sparred later.

"That's pretty smart, can't wait to see it in action. Hey, I heard something about teams, whaddya say? Want to rig the system?"

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Well, I heard that choosing partners is largely left up to the students. So want to make sure we're partners? You're bladed staff should make short work of crowds while my fire sword will hold the attention of Grimm pretty well."

Aoi stuttered a bit, unsuccessfully trying to hide his surprise at someone actually wanting to team up with him, a nobody who was rushed through their initial combat training, on top of the fact that that person who is asking him is of the fairer sex. In an attempt to delay and gather his thoughts, he transformed his weapon back into its sheathed form and holstered it on the side of his right leg.

"I, uh, well. I just, uh. Yeah."

The girl in front of him simply laughed.

"That's confidence inspiring. What? Am I not pretty enough?"

She put on her best puppy face and sniffled a bit.

Oh, shit. How do I handle this?

Luckily, a voice over the PA saved Aoi, causing him to sigh in relief.

"Would all first year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation? Again, all first year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately."

At this the girl laughed.

"Relax, I'm just teasing. Give it some thought, OK? By the way, my name is Laurel. Laurel Lavender."

Laurel stuck out her hand and Aoi shook it, almost hesitantly.

"Wait, you mean Lavender as in you mom is…"

Laurel beamed at this.

"Yup! My mom is Lisa! The one that does the news. Also, you hand feels funny. What's up with that?"

"I'm a Faunus. I've got gecko hands. I normally don't shake hands or high five people. And my name is Aoi Lunaris."

"Whoop, sorry about that. Anywho, we wait much longer, we'll be late for initiation. Come on!"

* * *

As Ozpin and Glynda talked about the initiation and partner selection, Laurel leaned over to Aoi.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"My landing strategy. Two years at Signal didn't leave much time to work on it."

"Two years! How'd you pull that off? And what is your landing strategy anyways?"

"I started late. Ozpin OK'ed me to have them teach me as much as they could, as fast as they could. So my landing strategy is to basically cannonball through everything and roll with the impact when I land. Not much but I'll be in one piece when I hit the ground."

Laurel frowned at this.

"If you say so. Want me to find you and make sure you're OK after landing?"

"Yea, if you don't mind. That would be helpful."

"Sure thing. Glad I'm launching second. I'll see where you land and catch up to you."

* * *

Flying through the air, Aoi weighed his limited options.

Hmmm, cannonball is gonna hurt. Maybe I can deflect off of trees with my weapon? I trained with that a bit. Fuck! Tree! Running out of time. Deflection it is.

Aoi pulled out his weapon and extended the blades, using the flats to push off of trees and branches as they came up to hit him. Though the on the last one, his blade wasn't lined up properly so it bit into a branch and was almost wrenched from his hands.

"Fuck! Cannonball it is!"

Holstering his weapon and curling up, Aoi rotated in the air so his feet would hit first. After obliterating several branches, Aoi slammed into the ground and blacked out, the impact hitting hard, even with his Aura protecting him.

* * *

Aoi woke to the world bumping at an odd rhythm. Looking down he saw the backs of running legs, as well as a feminine and very good looking butt. Instinct took over for a moment as Aoi started to stare.

"Shit!"

"Welcome back to the land of the living. What's wrong?"

Aoi's face blushed even more, as he realized it wasn't just anyone he had been staring at, it was the one he made plans with to be partners.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stare!"

Laurel chuckled at that.

"Is that the problem? Here, let me set you down."

Laurel slowed down and walked over to a nearby tree, which Aoi leaned on, his feet not yet steady beneath him. Looking away, Aoi evaded Laurel's attempts to make eye contact. Frustrated by her persistence, Aoi turned to walk away, only to trip over his own feet and nearly fall. Laurel caught him and helped him back over to the tree.

"Woah, easy there, get your balance first. And it's nothing to be embarrassed about. Happens all the time. I'm glad you noticed."

Aoi looked up in time to see her wink at him. His blush returned in full force, causing Laurel to clutch her sides in laughter. Aoi sighed.

"Mind not doing that?"

"Fine. I'm sorry. Anyway, sorry about hauling you out of there like a sack of potatoes. A few Beowolves got to you just after I did, too many for me to protect you. The only way to get you out of there was throw you over my shoulder so I could use my sword."

"I'm still here so I can't complain too much. So, relics. I think Ozpin said northern end of the forest? I'm no good with directions so I have no idea where we're going."

Laurel looked up at the sky.

"Sun's there, so… Hmmm. That way."

Laurel pointed off to one side. For all Aoi knew, it was an arbitrary direction but seeing as how he and Laurel were partners now, there was no reason for her to be lying.

"Well then that's where we're going. You want to lead the way or watch our backs?"

"I seem to know where we're going better than you do. Do you mind keeping an eye out?"

Aoi shook his head and drew his weapon, preferring to keep it in its collapsed form for now.

* * *

At the top of the cliff, Glynda and Ozpin looked through footage that hidden cameras, as well as cameras carried by instructors that were shadowing students, were capturing.

"It looks like Aoi Lunaris and Laurel Lavender have reached the temple first. I must say, I'm surprised. Aoi is holding up quite well, considering he only had two years of education and training at Signal. Still, he has a lot of ground to make up to reach the level of the other students. Why did you OK him, knowing he wasn't ready?"

Ozpin continued watching his Scroll. Glynda thought he wasn't going to respond until she saw he was watching to boy in question. Knowing Ozpin would answer in his own time, she waited.

"That young man has had his will tempered by fire at a younger age than most."

"Why do you mean by that?"

"Perhaps when you meet him, you'll find out."

Glynda "Hmmpf'ed" in frustration at his cryptic answer, causing Ozpin to chuckle.

* * *

Despite Ozpin's promises of opposition, the worst the pair found were Boarbatusks and Beowolves along the way, all of them falling quickly to either Aoi's or Laurel's weapon.

"Whelp. Here we are. Doesn't look like anything special. Other than these oddly well preserved relics. I thought it'd be something exciting."

"Like what?"

"I don't know, maybe actual relics? Oh well. Which should we take?"

Aoi looked around, noting the number and types of the chess pieces. Arrayed on the pedestals was a nearly full set of black and gold chess pieces, with only two pawns of each color, instead of eight.

"I always start my chess games with moving a pawn, so how about one of the gold pawns?"

Laurel grabbed one of the gold pawns.

"Works for me. We've had good luck so let's head back before trouble finds us."

* * *

Part of the way back, a small group of Ursai, lead by an Ursa Major attacked. Aoi and Laurel quickly drew and readied their weapons in melee form.

"Take care of the Ursa Major! I'll handle the Minors!"

"Got it!"

Laurel leapt towards the Ursa Major, activating the fire dust in her sword to draw its attention while Aoi dove into the group of smaller Ursai, becoming whirling death and using his bladed staff to great effect. Unable to see the forest for the trees, the Ursa Major swiped at Laurel's sword, entranced by the fire. Laurel ducked beneath the blow, running past and slashing at the Ursa's side.

"So you want dance? I'm game."

With the smaller Ursai staying out of the way of the Ursa Major, Laurel was unhindered as she, almost literally, ran circles around her opponent, striking weak points wherever she could find them. Front, back, or sides, it didn't matter to her. Frustrated, the Ursa tried falling backwards, wanting to skewer Laurel with the bone spikes on its back, or at least crush her. Unable to dodge in time, Laurel swung her sword through as many as she could, creating a safe spot between the spikes. Or as safe as you could be underneath a creature hell bent on your destruction.

"Aoi! Whenever you have time, get this walking rug off me!"

Down to only a handful of opponents, Aoi disengaged to help Laurel. Separating his staff into twin swords, Aoi plunged them into the Ursa Major's shoulder. Enraged, the Ursa swiped at Aoi, only to knock itself off balance which allowed Laurel to escape. Aoi pulled his swords from the Ursa and went mop up the rest of the smaller Ursai, only to find more showed up while he was helping Laurel.

"Time to go! Kill the Ursa Major so we can get out of here!"

Laurel stabbed her sword into the Ursa's neck, killing it. She looked around to see Ursa Minors on all sides.

"Aoi, we've got a problem! We're surrounded!"

Aoi took a look around before changing his weapon to it's ranged form. After double checking that he had Fragmentation rounds loaded, Aoi flipped the power selector to 300 meters per second and took aim.

"Cover your ears!"

That was the only warning he gave before pulling the trigger. Thousands of amps flooded two pairs of rails, launching a sled forward which carried a 5 centimeter long steel projectile. Within milliseconds, the sled was at the end of its path. The power cut off, allowing the projectile to continue at just under the speed of sound. The Fire Dust core within it detonated, causing the projectile to fragment. The smallest of the fragments shattered on impact with the lead Ursa's bone plating but the rest tore through the Ursa, bone and all, like it was tissue paper. After pulling back the bolt to feed a new projectile into the sled, Aoi fired again and repeated the process, cleared a path. Looking back, he saw Laurel wide eyed at the destruction.

"Let's move! I didn't bring any spare rails so I don't have many shots before my weapon becomes useless!"

"I had no idea you had such an awesome weapon!"

"Less talking, more running!"

With that, Aoi took off through the opening, looking back to make sure Laurel was following. It didn't take long for the Ursai to recover from the shock of both the noise of the weapon. As Aoi and Laurel ran between them, the Ursai tried to take down the trainee Hunters, succeeding only in diminishing their Aura a small amount.

* * *

Reaching the path to the top of the cliff, Aoi and Laurel stopped to catch their breath.

"Holy shit! What kind of weapon is that?"

Aoi unholstered his weapon, expanding it to a bladed staff, then transforming it into a rifle.

"It's a railgun powered by Lightning Dust. The rounds I used are Fragmentation rounds so after they're launched, some Fire Dust inside detonates, causing the round to burst into about 20 pieces."

"Woah, that's pretty cool. But aren't railguns experimental?"

"Yeah. There's only a few big problems with them. But most of them can be resolved with a little maintenance every 10 or so shots, depending on the power setting. At the setting I used earlier, I can fire about 20 shots. I still stick to 10 so I can repair and reuse the rails later. The rest of the problems are solved with a good power source, like Lightning Dust."

"10 shots isn't very many. Though with how destructive those shots were, I guess that doesn't matter much."

"Ha! That was Fragmentation rounds at 15% power. You should see solid core rounds fired at 100%, though I'm not allowed to use solid core rounds on anything smaller than a Deathstalker."

"That sounds fun!"

Aoi shook his head.

"Only if you like splattering Grimm goo everywhere. Anyways, let's get the relic to Ozpin before we get attacked again."

Holstering his weapon, Aoi began the trek up the side of the cliff with Laurel in tow.

* * *

Upon reaching the top, Ozpin greeted the two.

"Well done. I'm impressed, most students don't finish initiation so quickly."

While Laurel was more than happy to converse with Ozpin, Aoi simply gave him a cold stare.

"There weren't many Grimm and finding the temple was easy. I'm almost sad we didn't see more action!"

Glynda's stare quickly wilted Laurel's grin.

"Careful what you wish for, Ms. Lavender. Right now some of your fellow students are contending with both a Deathstalker and a giant Nevermore."

"What?! We gotta go help them!"

Laurel would have jumped off the cliff, dragging Aoi with her, if not for Ozpin blocking her way with his cane.

"They'll be fine. There are 8 of them working together. As for you two, you've earned a rest. Head to the cafeteria for some lunch and you can rest in the commons until teams are formed."

Walking away, Laurel looked at Aoi.

"You don't seem to like the Headmaster."

"He's the reason my mom is still alive."

"And that's… Bad?"

"I guess it's OK since she can't hurt anyone where she is now. I don't want to talk about it."

"Huh. Sure thing."

Laurel interlaced her fingers behind her head and sighed, realizing that her new partner is every bit as complicated as his weapon.

* * *

A/N: I'm aiming for 1000 words a chapter. As I read, shorter chapters irritate me a bit, so I'm aiming for ones at a length I like to read. Reviews below! I want to know what you think!

EDIT: Words! Not 1000 characters a chapter. That'd be silly. I shouldn't write at 1:30 am, apparently.

EDIT2: 10000. Not 1000. What was I thinking? I blame writing in the wee hours of the morning. I'm going to be updating this chapter as I write chunks of it.


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